Grade 6 (modal age 11) students invented and revised models of the variability generated as each measured the perimeter of a table in their classroom. To construct models, students represented variability as a linear composite of true measure (signal) and multiple sources of random error. Students revised models by developing sampling…

Sampling tasks and sampling distributions provide a fertile realm for investigating students' conceptions of variability. A project-designed teaching episode on samples and sampling distributions was team-taught in 6 research classrooms (2 middle school and 4 high school) by the investigators and regular classroom mathematics teachers. Data…

If students are to understand inferential statistics successfully, they must have a profound understanding of the nature of the sampling distribution. Specifically, they must comprehend the determination of the expected value and standard error of a sampling distribution as well as the meaning of the central limit theorem. Many students in a high…

This study examined the relationship between STAR Math gains and TCAP composite scores. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between STAR Math pretest and posttest gains over the course of the 2005-2006 academic year through the use of the STAR Math software program and TCAP math composite scores at…

Presents teaching activities that are intended to be used to teach statistics to students in a high school mathematics program. Includes a worksheet of eight discussion questions on statistics, four activities on sampling bias, two experiments on sampling techniques, and a game known as "capture-recapture." (TW)